Cyclone Biparjoy: Ports and Shipping Ministry holds meeting to review preparedness

With Cyclone Biparjoy approaching the Indian subcontinent, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal held a high-level meeting with senior officials of his ministry as well as the government of Gujarat to take stock of the situation.

The cyclone is barrelling towards the Gujarat coast even as parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region received heavy rains accompanied by strong winds on Wednesday, the Met department said.

“We must be prepared for all kinds of eventualities as this could be one of the severest storms to have hit the country once it makes landfall. We are taking steps to minimise the loss of lives and property and are committed to ensuring people’s safety. Those residing in coastal areas are evacuated to safer shores and measures are being undertaken to raise make-shift shelters for people in harm’s way,” Sonowal said.

He added, “All necessary steps are also being taken to provide emergency medical care as well as nutrition to children and the needy at the shelters. We have also reviewed our preparedness to ensure the safety of large ships in the affected areas. We are constantly monitoring the evacuation process. Our teams on the ground are on high alert and are ready to mobilise all necessary steps to save lives and keep damage to property to a minimum.”

Three control rooms have been set up at Gandhidham in Gujarat. The control rooms are equipped with modern communications tools while teams have been working round the clock to ensure the safety of people and property.

About 3,000 people, living in the Port area and other low-lying areas around it, have already been evacuated and shifted to relief shelters.

NDRF earmarks 33 teams for relief 

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has earmarked a total of 33 teams to undertake relief and rescue operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra ahead of the expected landfall of cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ near the Jakhau port in the Kutch district.

While 18 NDRF teams have been placed in Gujarat, one has been stationed in neighbouring Diu in the newly formed Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Diu is encircled by Gir Somnath and Amreli districts of Gujarat in the north and by the Arabian Sea from three sides.

Giving a layout of the NDRF deployment in Gujarat, the officials said four NDRF teams have been deployed in the Kutch district, three each in Rajkot and Devbhumi Dwarka, two in Jamnagar, one each in Porbandar, Junagarh, Gir Somnath, Morbi, Valsad and Gandhinagar.

In the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, out of the total 14 NDRF teams, five have been deployed in Mumbai while the rest have been kept on standby, the officials said.

With inputs from agencies

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